Quarterlifeparty

I was sitting at work a few weeks ago when a co-worker was listening to some funk/jazz radio station and a few songs came on that caught my attention. I started out listening subconciously and slowly noticed that my foot was tapping. When I actually began to conciously listen to the music it took an avante garde turn. This music sounded like it was telling a story, had a landscape, atmosphere and characters involved in it. But it wasn’t like John Williams or Ennio Morricone, this was straight up funky, jazzy, lounge music that had an experimental edge to it.

“Who is this?”, I asked.
“Syd Dale”.

Ever since I have been strutting into work listening to this brilliant music. I’ve come to find that Syd Dale was primarily a music composer for TV and film in the late 40′s. And I also came to realize that music for TV in the 40′s was 100 times better than it is now.

Here is a great, very sexy clip montage from “Another Day, Another Man” for which Syd Dale did the theme song for, “The Hellraisers”. This is like 60′s classy softcore.

That was a more risque example of what he has composed for, but he has a more mainstream portfolio as well. You’ve probably heard this music whether or not you recognize the actual songs or not. The style is indelible. Syd Dale has been used in a ton of recent and past movies and television including the most recent “Black Dynamite” Movie, Spongebob Squarepants, 1970′s Spiderman Cartoons, The Sixth Sense and Ren & Stimpy.

Now, you may be thinking, without listening, that these are going to be pretty cheesy.. well they are and they aren’t. this is very tongue-in-cheek lounge music with incredible musicianship, complex melodies, and an experimental side that will turn your head. It has a pyschedelic twist at times that sounds a little bit like something you might hear at the Lithuanian Hall on soul night, or you might here some influence in Stereolab (although I find this a lot more engaging), or even maybe a bit of Serge Gainsbourg. These are songs that are more than just TV show background soundtracks, they stand up all on their own.

This is called Lounge and Library Music, but the variety runs the gamut. I’ve also heard it called Loungecore, but that’s just a ridiculous name. Overall, this is leisure, this is swank.

So here is a “Library Music” mix inspired by and containing some Syd Dale.

Download Full Mix as .Zip

Chris Joss “Slack the Slammer”
Syd Dale “Disco Tek”
M. Hubler & S. Schwab “dedicated to love” (from Vampyros Lesbos)
Clive Tanaka “International Heartbreaker”
Deep Throat Part II “Saxy”
Syd Dale Orchestra “Drunk Punch”
Juan Pablo Torres Y Algo Nuevo “Rompe Cocorioco”
Syd Dale Orchestra “Fat Man”
Syd Dale “Night Raider”
Deep Throat Part II 08 “Deeper And Deeper”

Tags: , library music , loungecore , syd dale